


Occasionally on Purpose

by jammerific



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Acrophobia, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jammerific/pseuds/jammerific
Summary: Dagna's not sure what she expected, when she answered the call of the Inquisition. It definitely wasn't Sera, but she's not complaining.
Relationships: Dagna/Sera (Dragon Age)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 19
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Occasionally on Purpose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [butterpanic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterpanic/gifts).



> I hope this hits the banter/humour/strong friendship dynamics for you, and I'm sorry I couldn't work in high-tech sex toys. Maybe next time... 
> 
> Many thanks to [Voicefullofmoney](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Voicefullofmoney) for the beta!

"Widdle, you down there?" Sera's voice carries down the stairs to the undercroft, and Dagna pushes her visor up off her face, setting the rune she was working on aside. In her peripheral vision, the desk that Sera installed nearby - Ancestors only knew where she found it - overflows with detritus. Like everything in Sera's vicinity, it's a whirlwind of chaos which only she truly understands.

Sera herself arrives a second later, a suspiciously lumpy bag slung over one shoulder. She stops to dip Dagna into a dramatic kiss that makes Harrit grumble from the other side of the room, grabs something from the desk, and then as quickly as she arrived, is gone again.

"Come on, slowcoach," she calls behind her. "We're testing things! I'll meet you on the tavern roof, yeah?"

~

Dagna's not sure what she expected, when she answered the call of the Inquisition. Hard work, certainly; hopefully of the interesting variety. Dedicated, serious people trying to solve a completely unprecedented problem. New mages who would be initially dismissive of the input of a dwarf, and need to be won over - that one was a constant trend, everywhere she went, but she had never failed to change minds.

She definitely _hadn't_ expected Sera. It had been barely a day into her tenure with the Inquisition when she'd been pulled out of concentration by a loud voice. 

"What the hell's an arcanist, then? That's you, right?" The second syllable was squashed: _AR-kan-ist_. 

The speaker was an elf, with choppy hair and patched, clashing clothes. Someone unconcerned with the opinions of others, Dagna deduced, and who didn't assume that _damaged_ meant _useless_. She had clear, focused eyes, above a mouth quirked in amusement.

"Is it like an arsonist? That'd be fun. A bit of arson can go a long way, properly applied."

Dagna wiped her hands off on the cloth tucked into her belt. "It's arson-adjacent, I guess. I do set things on fire, but only sometimes on purpose. Mostly I investigate the practical applications of magic via runes. I'm Dagna."

"Sera," the elf replied distractedly, face curling up in disgust. "You're a dwarf. Why're you messing around with demon shite?"

"Enchantment isn't 'demon shite'," Dagna argued. "I can't be possessed, anyway, dwarves aren't connected to the Fade."

Sera's expression had gone thoughtful. "Huh. Well if any of the mages gets themselves all abomified, I'm sticking with you then. Is Harrit around? I want to talk to him about arrowheads."

Dagna liked her immediately.

~

She puts her work away before following Sera, because while she's always up for a spot of field testing, she's also a conscientious worker. On the second floor of the tavern she stops to lean against the windowsill, craning to try and spot any sign of Sera without having to actually go out onto the roof. It's not hesitance, it's just -

"You might not fall in but you could still lose yourself," Cole says softly right next to her ear. " _Boundless blue, vast and empty. How does anyone on the surface ever pay attention to anything else?_ It's alright to be afraid."

Dagna resists the urge to drag her hand across her face.

"Cole, I didn't realise you were back," she says. "I'm not afraid, I'm just - pausing. For a moment."

Cole tilts his head to look sideways at her from under that ridiculous hat.

"The Stone is strong here, it won't forget you," he reassures her, and she's pretty sure he's just hooked that out of her head too because how would a spirit know? But it's one thing to relinquish the rock above your head and quite another to forgo the one beneath your feet. As much as Dagna breaks the mould in many ways, it's just - _unnatural_.

Sera's face appears upside-down in the window. "Oi, you comin' or what?"

Dagna looks back to Cole, but predictably, he's already melted away into the shadows. She takes a deep breath, and places both hands on the sill again. She's gathering her courage when Sera slides back down like a monkey, sitting astride the sill to regard Dagna thoughtfully.

"You alright?" Her face is creased with concern. 

"I'm fine," Dagna says, forcing a bright smile on her face.

Sera slides her other leg over the sill, dumping her bulging bag through to clatter on the floorboards. She grabs Dagna by the arm, tugging her along to the room Sera has claimed for her own at the end of the floor.

"Changed my mind, come on. Let's go have tea. Maybe a roll around when we've warmed up some, yeah?"

~

Sera's unlike anyone else Dagna has ever met. The younger circle mages have a little of the same wild enthusiasm, before it gets crushed out of them. And she's known many dwarves with the same fierce determination, but Sera's irreverence and whimsy would be alien concepts in Orzammar. Dagna had initially assumed Sera's disposition might be typical of city elves, but it had only taken one disastrous conversation to put that idea to bed. It's very easy to brush up against one of Sera's jagged edges, if you're not careful.

Dagna can tell it's pushed people away before, from the things Sera _doesn't_ say; the gaps in her otherwise constant commentary. But she's not that easily deterred. She's a Smith by birth and she works with explosive chemicals for a living, plus she knows a thing or two about rejecting a past that rejected you first. The day after their argument Dagna had turned up at Sera's door with two bottles of ale and a rune for her dagger, and the rest, as they say, had been history.

~

Sera tips her bag out on the bench when they've shut the door behind them; Dagna scoops up one of the prototype grenades before it can roll off onto the floor, and turns it over in her hands.

"What's in this one?" she asks, glad for the distraction but still swirling with shame. "More bees?"

"Nah, these are just - boom," Sera says with a two-handed gesture and a feral grin. Dagna sets it down carefully. Sera's digging around in one of the chests now, and emerges triumphantly brandishing a package of tea and a small box. "Sugared almond?"

"Ambassador Montilyet is going to have you thrown off the battlements if you keep stealing her supplies for visiting dignitaries," Dagna says, but a real smile is tugging on the corners of her mouth now, chasing away the last of the dread. She takes one of the nuts, popping it in her mouth and letting the sweetness melt onto her tongue.

Sera scoffs. "Josie loves me. Sometimes an element of chaos is just what you need, yeah? Keeps people on their toes."

Dagna nods; in diplomacy, as in spellcrafting. Sera sets some water to boil, and while they're waiting for it sits up tight against Dagna on the padded bench, knocking against her with her shoulder.

"You gonna tell me what that was about?" she asks, gesturing towards the hallway. Dagna sighs.

"I just don't like heights very much," she says. "I've never really had to get used to them."

Sera makes a soft noise. "I keep forgetting that you're a dwarfy dwarf."

"A dwarfy dwarf?" Dagna repeats with a laugh. "As opposed to what?"

"As opposed to a surfacer, or whatever. Someone born up here." Sera waves one hand vaguely as she speaks. There's a beat of silence before she asks "Do you ever miss it? Orzawhatsit."

"Not really," Dagna says, determinedly not thinking about the package making its way to her father on raven-wings; about all the letters before it that went unanswered. "I'd make the same choice again in a heartbeat. Besides, if I'd never left I'd never have met you."

Sera pulls her into a tight hug at that, nuzzling her hair, and Dagna tips her face up to turn it into a kiss, slow and languorous and just a little filthy. Sera runs a hand up her thigh, deepening the kiss.

"The tea," Dagna reminds her as she pulls away. "It'll boil dry."

Sera leans over to blow out the flame under the samovar, and pushes Dagna back into the cushions with a predatory smile on her face. "Changed my mind. Roll around first, then tea."

~

Afterward, Dagna has her head pillowed on Sera's belly, and they're both looking up at the ceiling from a pile of cushions on the floor. She can hear Sera's voice vibrating through her as she speaks.

"I wasn't trying to be a prick, with the roof thing," she says.

Dagna reaches up to tangle their fingers together, and presses a kiss to them. "I know."

"What if we tested some smoke bombs from the walls above the gardens instead? Bet Josie's got some bigwigs around somewhere that could do with a bit of excitement in their lives. There's proper steps up to there."

"That'd be perfect," Dagna says, and she means it. Her life has come a strange and crooked route, to get here, but she wouldn't trade this - the madcap schemes, the faint sheen of sweat cooling on her skin - for anything.

"I've got some ideas on how you can probably improve them," she adds, sitting up. "Once I've seen how this batch performs."

Sera swoops in for another kiss and dives across the room to grab her leggings and shirt. "You're the actual best, Widdle. Let's go!"


End file.
